to that individual's
religion;--which is as much as to say that over-beliefs in various
directions are absolutely indispensable, and that we should treat them
with tenderness and tolerance so long as they are not intolerant
themselves. As I have elsewhere written, the most interesting and
valuable things about a man are usually his over-beliefs.

[358] For instance, here is a case where a person exposed from her
birth to Christian ideas had to wait till they came to her clad in
spiritistic formulas before the saving experience set in:--

"For myself I can say that spiritualism has saved me. It was revealed
to me at a critical moment of my life, and without it I don't know what
I should have done. It has taught me to detach myself from worldly
things and to place my hope in things to come. Through it I have
learned to see in all men, even in those most criminal, even in those
from whom I have most suffered, undeveloped brothers to whom I owed
assistance, love, and forgiveness. I have learned that I must lose my
temper over nothing despise no one, and pray for all. Most of all I
have learned to pray! And although I have still much to learn in this
domain, prayer ever brings me more strength, consolation, and comfort.
I feel more than ever that I have only made a few steps on the long
road of progress; but I look at its length without dismay, for I have
confidence that the day will come when all my efforts shall be
rewarded. So Spiritualism has a great place in my life, indeed it
holds the first place there." Flournoy Collection.

Disregarding the over beliefs, and confining ourselves to what is
common and generic, we have in the fact that the conscious person is
continuous with a wider self through which saving experiences
come,[359] a positive content of religious experience which, it seems
to me, is literally and objectively true as far as it goes.

If I now proceed to state my own hypothesis about the farther limits of
this extension of our personality, I shall be offering my own
over-belief-- though I know it will appear a sorry under-belief to some
of you--for which I can only bespeak the same indulgence which in a
converse case I should accord to yours.

[359] "The influence of the Holy Spirit, exquisitely called the
Comforter, is a matter of actual experience, as solid a reality as that
of electro magnetism." W. C. Brownell, Scribner's Magazine, vol. xxx.
p. 112.

{506} The further limits of